Broken Heart
by Ryan Lohner
Summary: Sideways fic. Continuation based on the interpretation of the ending from the DVD commentary.Finished.
1. Chapter one

Miles' heart pounded as he knocked on the door. It had been a while since Maya had left that message on his machine, and he hoped she was still willing to try to make things work. He had debated long and hard about whether to do this at all. What if things didn't work out again, and he was left with no hope at all that the right woman was out there somewhere? At least he could have hung on to that illusion if he had never gone back. But here he was, and he had already knocked. There was no turning back now.

The door opened, and Miles shut his eyes. "Hello, Maya," he began. "Excuse me?" The voice was not the one he was expecting. Miles opened his eyes and saw nothing ahead of him. Then he looked down. An old woman sat in front of him in a wheelchair. For a second he couldn't think of a word to say. "Did you want something?" the woman asked. He stuttered, "Um, uh, do you live here?" "Yes," she said. "By yourself?" "Yes, what is this about?"

Miles struggled to remain calm. "The woman who lived here before, did you meet her?" "Oh yes, lovely young thing. Are you looking for her?" "Actually, I am. Did she happen to tell you where she was going?" The old woman looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, no. Now that I think of it, she did have an odd look in her eyes when I spoke to her. Kind of regretful, though with a bit of anger as well." Miles blinked away tears. "Well, I know this is a long shot, but if you ever see her again, call me, will you?" He wrote down his number and gave it to her. The woman backed up and closed the door.

As soon as he was alone again, Miles let the tears flow a little more freely. He stumbled down the stairs and back to his car. Once inside, however, he was freely to let himself go. He openly wept for a full minute, feeling the last ray of hope being extinguished. He screamed obscenities to no one. "FUCK!" Getting no satisfaction, he tried it again. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" Letting off the steam still didn't help. He was in the same position as before: alone.

IIIIIIII

Don't worry, this isn't the end!


	2. Chapter two

Jack sat back on the couch, watching golf. He loved the game, and even watching it always relaxed him, kind of like Miles and wine. In the kitchen, Christine was making lunch. God, he loved her. That was the best thing he had taken out of his trip to wine country. When he had to go back to that married slut's house to retrieve his wedding rings, he realized that he was truly in love for the first time in his life, and he hated how he had nearly thrown it all away. Before the trip he had told himself that he was going to remain faithful once he got married, but now he really meant it.

The phone rang, but Jack was too absorbed in the game to answer it. A few seconds later, Christine came into the room and said, "It's Miles."

Jack took the phone. "Hey, buddy!" he said. "What's up?" Miles answered, "I'm in a bit of a bad place right now, and I just need to hear a friendly voice." "Okay, whatever you need. So, what's going on?" There was a pause before Miles spoke. "I'm out here in wine country again, and I thought I'd check on Maya…"

"Whoa, hold on!" Jack interrupted. "You actually think you still have a chance with her?" "I don't know, maybe." Jack chuckled. "Listen, I thought she hated both our guts. Just give it up and look for somebody else." He winced as Miles exploded. "Yeah, and whose fault was that, huh? It's bad enough you almost ruined your own relationship, why'd you have to screw up mine too?" Jack could tell that Miles was starting to cry. He continued, "Look, this is not what I called for, so if you're gonna be like this, I'm hanging up!"

Jack replied, "No, no, wait! Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't realize the kind of shape you were in." He meant it, too. His interference with Miles and Maya's romance was one of the biggest regrets of his life, and he hated to think he was causing his friend that kind of pain again. "So did you see her yet?" Miles took a deep breath. "I went to her house, but she wasn't there. She moved, and I don't know where to. You know, she called me the day after the wedding. I just never had the guts to try again until now. And I'm too late." Jack cringed at the sound of Miles stifling his sobs.

Then, he had an idea. "Listen, man, why don't you try the Hitching Post? That bartender seemed to be on pretty good terms with her, maybe she said something to him about where she was going." Miles stopped crying. "You really think that could work?" he said. "Hey, it beats just wondering forever. Look, you're going to regret this the rest of your life if you don't do everything you can to find her, I know you will. If I lost Christine I'd feel the same way. Now go on, do it already!" Miles thanked him and hung up. Jack sat back, glad to have done his part to help the relationship out.


	3. Chapter three

Miles walked nervously into the Hitching Post. He had no idea how much Maya had told the employees about what had happened the last time, but this was the only way he could think of to get any kind of information about her. He approached the bar, where Gary was at his usual post.

"Hi, Gary," he said. The bartender looked up, said, "Oh, hey Miles," and went back to the glass he was cleaning for a second. Then he looked back up and said, "So what'll it be?" Miles couldn't help noticing that the man's manner was a bit colder than he was used to. Usually they chatted like old friends, now Gary was treating him like any ordinary customer. "Martini," he said. That got Gary's attention. "Really? No specific wine you want to try?" "No," Miles replied. Gary shrugged. "Okay, coming right up."

The drink arrived, and Miles swilled it down. He then said, "Listen, I didn't come in here for a drink." Gary didn't look surprised at all. He continued, "Actually, I came to ask about Maya." Gary leaned forward. "Oh yeah? And what do you want to know about her?" Miles couldn't ignore the tension any more. "So I guess you know what happened with her." "Yeah, she told me. That jackass you were with better not come back here or I might smash his face in. In fact, I'm barely restraining myself now."

Miles felt sweat forming on his forehead. "All right, listen. Please believe me, I had no idea Jack was like that. I was just as shocked as you. In fact, I ended that friendship as soon as we got back, and the only reason I waited that long was so things wouldn't be awkward in the car." The lie slipped easily from his lips, just like so many others had. Miles briefly contemplated on how it was lying that got him into this situation, and now he was doing it again to get out of it. Oh well, there was no turning back now.

Gary seemed to relax a little. "Okay, that sounds reasonable. She quit about a month ago. Said she wanted to take on the world, or something." "Did she say anything about where she was going?" Miles asked, with a hint of desperation in his voice despite his best attempts to keep it out. Gary sighed. "No. I'm sorry, if I could help you I would. She just left, no farewell party or anything." Miles' heart sank for the second time that day. Gary noticed it and said, "Look, I always thought you two would be nice together. But maybe it just wasn't meant to be. The right woman for you is out there, and you'll find her some day."

After a couple more drinks, which didn't help at all, Miles staggered back to the hotel. He called up Jack, who could tell his friend's state immediately. "Drinking and dialing. This can't be good." "She's gone," said Miles. "I don't know what else I can do. I lost her, she's just out there somewhere and I don't know where that is." The drunken rambling continued for a few more minutes. It tore Jack apart to listen to it, but he stayed on the line because he could tell Miles it was what Miles needed. Finally they said their goodbyes, and Miles passed out on the bed.


	4. Chapter four

It was a year after Miles' ill-fated trip. He had taken his publicist's info to heart, writing a more commercially viable book. Personally, Miles hated it. The whole thing was a cliché-ridden piece of crap that he would have once fought against desperately. It had been on the best-seller list for weeks, and Miles was now a household name.

He was at a book-signing, staring into the eyes of all the brain-dead morons who thought his writing was great stuff. The customers all seemed to blend into each other, each more slack-jawed and dead-eyed than the last. Then he heard, "You know, I didn't think it was all that great." Miles looked up and saw Maya.

They quickly set up a meeting time for later. After the signing, Miles ran over, ecstatic at seeing her again. He said, "You know, I went back to your house, but you'd already moved out." Maya looked at him regretfully. "Yeah, I guess I'm just too impatient. I've been living in San Francisco, trying to find my calling. I've tried painting lately." "Make much money?" "Enough to keep me in waitressing."

Miles returned her gaze. "I'm so sorry about what happened. The idea that we could have been together all this time if I hadn't been so stupid just drives me crazy." Maya replied, "So did you ever open that '61 bottle." "Yeah. It was pretty good stuff." "So I guess I was right about it peaking." "Well, I've never tasted any other samples of that kind of wine, so I guess I'll never know if I waited too long."

He then got up the courage to say, "So listen, I'm going to 'Frisco in a couple weeks on another book gig. Maybe I'll stop by." "I'd like that," Maya replied. They looked down and found that they were holding hands. They stayed that way a while longer, and finally separated. Miles headed to his car, full of hope for the first time in a long ime.

The End


End file.
